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Races
The following page is an index of the races that will be in SF3. Each race has its own profile page. The profiles contain the following information: *'Basic Characteristics': This lists the species racial statistics, average mass and long dimensions, and general creature type. This information is included for all species owing to the possibility of slave trading in SF3. *'Physical Description': This gives a general description of the race in question. The data here is not nearly as thorough as that for SFRPG; this may or may not be rectified at a later date, depending on the level of detail ultimately needed for SF3. *'Space Units': This gives a general listing of the starships available to the given race. Included in the Space Units section is a listing of what minerals a particular race's ships are made out of (this information appears when you scan an enemy vessel, and when you destroy one, that is what is left for you to pick up). The numbers listed in the ship's general equipment ratings (Engines, Shields/Armor, Lasers/Missiles) refer directly to the equipment's class. Note that in the case of weaponry, additional information may be given referring to a special weapon or item unique to that race. Any listing of "turret" has a 360 degree firing arc; other directions refer to a 90 degree firing arc referencing the indicated direction. **''NOTE: The description of the intended effects of special weapons or equipment a species uses will be included in that species' writeup''. *'Ground Units': This gives a general listing of the vehicles available to the given race. Engaging the ground units of a species in combat will have the same general effect on the player's relations with the species as engaging their units in space. The mineral composition of ground units will be the same as that listed for space units, though the amounts will be somewhat lessened. Indication of "turrets" for a ground unit allow the unit to fire a weapon in any direction; otherwise, the unit must face their target before they may attack another unit. Ground units always include a very generic description of how the unit will appear. Ground Units in general use the same ratings as space units, but have a few additional properties as outlined below: **''Energy'': An indication of the vehicle's energy stat, used as a means of determining how much punishment it can take before being destroyed. **''Melee'': An attack that can only be delivered when that object's collision area is touching the collision area of its target. **''Flat'': The speed/efficiency the unit travels on flat land. **''Mount'': The speed/efficiency the unit travels on steep mountains. This will likely be determined by rapid changes in planetary elevation, though the exact amount of elevation change necessary has not yet been determined. **''Liquid'' The speed/efficiency the unit travels on a liquid surface (possibly also including ice and cooling lava.) *'Territory': This describes where to find the species in question. Territory is made up of the following: **''Patrol'': This lists in which sectors the species can be found. **''Space'': This lists the boundaries of the species' sphere(s) of influence. Generally, within the sphere of influence encounters with the species will be far more common. **''Star'': This lists any star systems specifically patrolled by the species. **''World'': This lists any worlds upon which the species inhabits, or any world where they maintain ground units (including structures such as trading posts). *'Status': This is used in place of SFRPG's "Relationships With Other Races" stat. The two are functionally the same in that they list which races are on friendly terms with the race in question, and which ones are hostile. Any species not explicitly listed in a profile is considered neutral. If a race is an ally of another, it will not attack it, and will defend it during encounters. An enemy would provoke the opposite sort of reaction. If a race is neither an ally or an enemy of another, then there simply is no reaction, unless one race attacks the other (if say, race 1 was neutral to race 2, but race 2 considered race 1 an enemy). A species status with another species can change throughout the course of the game; the "initial" status lists the species' relationships at the beginning of the game, while "final" lists them at game's end. *'Economy': This lists what specialty trade goods the species will trade, as well as the general economic conditions the species' civilization is under. *'Supplemental Information': This lists any additional information the species profile designer wishes to add. This can include data on the general overall culture of the species, their personality and motivations, a more detailed history of the species, or anything else that does not fit anywhere else in the profile. The data here will likely be used to generate communications messages for the race in question. *'Importance': This stat explains why the species is important to SF3, and what role they will serve within the game. *'Communication Text': This final "stat" is a listing of phrases a species will use in communications with the player. For more details on this system, see the discussion on Communication Mechanics, Interface and Engine. In addition to communications phrases, this section should include the species reactions to various communications postures, as well as their "threshold values" (again, see the Communication Engine discussion for details). Sectors: A Definition As previously mentioned, a Sector is the equivalent of a starmap in the previous games. SF3 utilizes a modification of the definition of a Sector first presented in the Starflight Role-Playing Game. All Sectors are square regions exactly 260 parsecs in length and width, covering a total area of 67,600 square parsecs. Accordingly, sectors are divided into 260 unit coordinates along both the upspin/downspin (y=) axis and the coreward/outward (x=) axis. These unit coordinates are also known as hyperspace coordinates. Each integer change in a hyperspace coordinate while traveling along an axis equates to one parsec traveled along that axis. Coordinates of objects in interstellar space are listed as an intersection of the x= coordinate and the y= coordinate; each intersection indicates an area of one square parsec. This is a large area and can contain a number of stellar bodies. If there is at least one star within a square parsec, there's a star system located at that intersection. All sets of stellar coordinates listed throughout SF3 follow the convention of Sector, followed by x-coordinate and ending in y-coordinate (except where the Sector designator would be explicitly redundant; these exceptions occur frequently in the race profile pages). Sector designations are always listed in Greek lowercase letters. Thus, all Alpha Sector locations are proceeded with the Greek alpha (α), all Beta Sector locations with the Greek beta (β), and all Delta Sector locations are proceeded with the Greek delta (δ). From this system, one can easily gather from the coordinates of Arth (α125x100) that Arth is in the Alpha Sector, at x=125 on the outward/coreward axis, and y=100 on the upspin/downspin axis (or roughly at the center-point of the Sector). Additional information (such as orbital lane of a planet and/or surface coordinates) may be listed after the coordinate set. When denoting planetary coordinates, editors should try to be consistent with their notation and list the planet's number relative to the star, rather than the orbital lane in which the planet occupies (if both pieces of data are required, the designator "p" will be used for planetary number and "o" for orbital lane with surrounding parentheses; Arth for example then becomes &alpha125x100, p2 (o3)). Given that SF3 will only be utilizing a total of three Sectors, use of the Galactic Areal Subdivisions described in SFRPG Chapter 8.4 will not be necessary (though a usage is mentioned in the private timeline for the Beta Sector). The above definition of a Sector contrasts with another definition used in some circles (such as the Lost Colony project), which makes a Sector akin to the definition of a Quadrant in the Star Trek™ universe (one-quarter to one-fifth the entire volume of an entire Galaxy). The modified SFRPG definition is being utilized here on the premise that A) there are too few stars produced in the game to realistically represent such a significant portion of the Galaxy and B) this leaves additional areas to be generated for future Starflight adventures and sequels. List of Alpha Sector Races New Races in this Sector (included since SF1) include the Seeayti and the Jaagen. The Uhlek, will not be present in the Alpha Sector during SF3, but can be encountered in the Delta Sector (Past), and so their profile remains relevant (however, their profile has been moved to the list of Delta Sector races). The active Alpha Sector races that will play necessary parts in the main plotline are the Thrynn, Spemin, and Jaagen. The Veloxi, Minstrels and Seeayti will be helpful races to the player in terms of giving out information. The Elowan may be either a help or a hindrance to the player, depending on how they choose to try and complete the part of the Alpha Sector plot-line involving the Thrynn. The Mechans are a friendly race, but generally will not be helpful in terms of giving out clues or technologies; likewise, the Mysterions will not give out clues or technologies. The New Empire consists of two main factions: the Imperial Navy and Interstel; the Navy will generally verbally harass the player when encountered. The player works for Interstel. The Gazurtoid are a hostile race. All of these races will have homeworlds and empires within the Beta Sector except for the Seeayti (who are non-starfaring; for details, see their profile). *Starfaring Races ** Arth (New Empire) - Humans ** Veloxi ** Thrynn ** Elowan ** Spemin ** Gazurtoid ** Mechan ** Minstrels ** Mysterions ** Jaggen *Non-Starfaring Races ** Seeayti List of Delta Sector Races No additional races have been added to the Delta Sector for SF3. The Dershetche and Ch-Q-Tss-T are now starfaring races. The active Delta Sector races that will play necessary parts in the main plotline are the Dweenle, Humna Humna, and the Arla. The Tandelou and Umanu are friendly races, but generally will not be helpful in terms of giving out clues (though both can provide useful technologies). Similarly, the Ch-Q-Tss-T are a friendly race but are not pertinent to the plot, and do not have useful technologies available. The G'Nunk''are a hostile race, though they do have a role to play in the main plotline. The ''Dershetche, Chichifa and Xxr are hostile races; of the three, only the Derchetche are starfaring, acting as raiders similarly to the Spemin. Likewise, the Ng, one of the phases of the Ng-Kher-Arla, are hostile, though they are only active for ten days a month; their next phase, the Kher are only hostile if addressed by the player. There are still a few Spemin in the Delta Sector; when encountered, they will conduct commerce raiding and piracy as in Starflight II. All of these races will have homeworlds and empires within the Delta Sector (with the already noted exception of the Chichifa and Xxr). All races within the Delta Sector, including the unmentioned remaining non-starfaring races, act as a means of raising revenue for the player (with the exception of the G'Nunk, Dershetche, Chichifa and Xxr). *Starfaring Races ** Umanu ** Tandelou Eshvara/Eshvey ** Humna Humna ** Dweenle ** G'Nunk ** Ng-Kher-Arla ** Spemin ** Ch-Q-Tss-T ** Dershetche ** ''Uhlek'' * Non-Starfaring Races ** Aeoruiiaeo ** Chichifa ** Djaboon ** Draffa Bastii ** Lieu Vadish ** Mbe ** Nathracch ** Nelsons ** Nga-Seng-Diul ** Nga-Seng-Kler ** Tarn ** Teeelveee ** Xxr List of Beta Sector Races 4/6/2011: Deus is in the process of conducting a plot re-write which will ultimately affect the entire Beta Sector. All data in this section should therefore be taken as unofficial as of this date. When new data becomes available, this section will be updated as appropriate. Owing to the fact that the Beta Sector was designed specifically for SF3, it's only natural that all of the races in the Beta Sector are new. Nomad Probes were in SF1 as an encounter unit; they have been moved to the Beta Sector for SF3. For more information on this move, refer to their profile. The active Beta Sector races that will play necessary parts in the main plotline are the Numlox, Nogona, Arcel. The Harsyrak will be a helpful race to the player, but they won't give any vital clues or devices. The Draconi, Rokta, and Klaptur are hostile races, like the Uhlek, Gazurtoid, Spemin, Umanu and G'nunk of the original games. The Phlegmak and Ancients are crucial to the overall game plot and both act as the story's main antagonists. All of these races will have homeworlds and empires within the Beta Sector except for the Klaptur (their world was destroyed by the Crystal Planet; they are now purely nomadic, though they stay within the Beta Sector), the Phlegmak (who have no homeworld due to their nature) and the Ancients (which technically do have homeworlds in the Endurium-rich Beta Sector; for details, see their profile). *Starfaring Races ** Numlox ** Harsyrak ** Arcel ** Rokta ** Nogona ** Draconi ** Klaptur ** Phlegmak ** Ancients ** Nomad Probes *Non-Starfaring Races ** Free Gazurtoid ---- NEXT: New Empire - Humans PREVIOUS: Player TOP ----